Chapter 4: A plush for Jay, and a gem for G
#4 of The Law
_A mix of silly, strange, and melancholy here. We write what we are I guess...
BTW, you'll see more of Jay and his plush friend in the next chapter, I assure you :)
-Lemn_
"Hmm, that's thoughtful..." Jay said to himself, as he pulled a silicone canid dildo out of the first case he opened in the shipping container. There was also some nice lube, an electrical device of some sort Jay didn't even want to know about, and a large bag of trail mix.
In other cases within the container he found books, clothes, games and toys, tools, small appliances, plush animals, porcelain figurines, and all manner of random odds and ends. Just rummaging through it all would be enough to keep Jay entertained for some time.
Near the back he finally found the pool.
It was brightly decorated like a typical children's wading pool, but the decorations were of bombs, explosions, and panoramas of war-torn cities. Jay tilted his head in puzzlement over the art, but shrugged and began to carry it out. Twinkles the zebra had specifically mentioned he should try it, and he wanted to keep that guy happy with him.
While the pool was filling up, he went back into the container to grab a few things to put in his trailer, and noticed a large, particularly cute polar bear plush in an adjacent case. He smiled and went over to stroke its fur and give it a hug; he'd always loved plushies.
He was lonely for some company anyways, and decided to bring the bear out too. Handling it on the way out, he felt something strange. Looking below the bear's tail, he realized that it was, in addition to being very cute and cuddly, also anatomically correct. And female.
Jay giggled, and made a mental note to find out where Twinkles did his shopping.
With the pool filled and his new plush friend poolside, Jay slid out of his clothes and laid down in the pool. He felt a little silly about it, but the water was nice and it was kind of relaxing. He splashed around a bit absent-mindedly, staring up at the hazy blankness above, and pondered the situation.
All strangeness and confusion aside, this place was pretty nice. He knew the loneliness would drive him crazy if he were forced to stay for too long, but for now it seemed enjoyable enough.
He closed his eyes for a bit and relaxed. He had no idea what time it was, or how long he'd been up, but he did know he was getting sleepy. There was a nice bed in his little trailer, and he decided to take advantage of it shortly.
Then he heard a splash, followed by another bigger splash, and suddenly something was pressing down softly on him.
He looked up to see his polar bear plush staring down at him, grinning. It... She... then leaned forward, smiling, so her face was just above Jay's.
"Confusing, isn't it?", she whispered softly into the fox's ear.
Earlier in the day, Till had located the corundum he needed from a shop Toby had pointed him to in neighboring Queensboro. Now, gem in pocket, Till had driven down to "G's Stone Polishing", in a light industrial area behind Riverbrook airport. Inside the plain, white, boxy exterior of the building was a large open area filled with large machine tools, boulders and rocks, some very large rolling tool chests, and a desk at which sat a mouse.
"Hi, " Till called out, "I'm here about the gem cutting..."
The mouse did not stir.
"Uh... Are you G? Toby said you'd be able to cut this gem for me... I have the details..."
After several more moments, the mouse spun around slowly in her chair, and motioned for Till to come closer.
He approached to within a few feet, but she gestured him even closer. Till could see she was very pretty, but something in her eyes seemed a little off. The loose khaki BDU shirt and pants she wore did not quite manage to conceal her lovely curves. And her red jackboots, Till thought, were a nice touch.
Finally she whispered to him, her eyes now sparkling with a strange emotion.
"You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike."
Till noticed a sudden reflection in her eyes; it appeared to be some sort of grid-work. He looked around behind him for the source of the reflection, but there was none.
The mouse giggled maniacally and Till recoiled a bit, taking a step back.
But she slid forward in her chair, and reached into Till's front pocket, where he'd put the gem and the diagram. Till didn't quite know what to do, so he just stood there while she fished around in his pocket. Her slender hand brushed against the gem, and she stopped and closed her eyes. Several tools fell off a bench halfway across the room, and clattered onto the smooth concrete floor.
Till looked around, seeing no one else around, and then peered back down at the mouse. This is getting really creepy, he thought.
Finally her hand withdrew from his pocket, with the diagram and gem. She glanced briefly at the diagram and nodded, tossing it aside, and placed the gem in a tray on her desk before turning back around to face Till.
"Visible exits," she continued, "are north, south, east, west, up, and down."
TIll studied her face for some time, trying to understand, trying to figure out what to do. She was clearly not right in the head, as Toby had hinted. But not in any sort of typical way. She seemed lost inside her own mind.
"I go down," Till said at last.
"You are in a burrow. Visible exits are up and down. You hear...", she paused.
"you hear the faint sounds of a mouse scratching below."
"I go down, towards the sound."
"You are in a small cave within the burrow. You see a mouse in fr..." she trembled slightly, and closed her eyes.
Unsteadily she continued, "you see a mouse in front of you. She is surrounded by toys, but appears... very sad. Visible exits are up."
"I talk to the mouse."
"Noth... nothing happens...."
"I hug the mouse."
"hug is not a recognized action. use 'help' for list of actions."
Till knelt down in front of her chair, and hugged her gently to his chest. She was stiff at first, but slowly relaxed in his grasp. Till leaned his head sideways against hers, and got what seemed like an electric shock when their heads met. He jerked back instinctively, but in the brief moment their heads were in contact, he had the sensation of panic; of falling, through infinite darkness...
What had he gotten himself into? Was this her natural state? He couldn't just leave her like this... could he?
Bracing himself, he leaned his head back against hers again. He got the same shock, but didn't move this time, and he found himself falling silently through a seemingly endless latticework of silver spheres connected by white rods, with nothing else visible but inky blackness in the background. Floating beside him was G.
She regarded him forlornly, and said, "welcome to my world..."
"Are you...", Till caught himself. Clearly there was no point asking if she was okay.
He started again, "Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"Don't worry, I'm only like this a few hours a day. I appreciate you coming to visit me here, though. And you will find what you are looking for in the shelf labelled 'C-14', just above my desk. Leave me your gem so that I might cut a replacement for the one you take. It is a wondrous faceting, but I advise you, seriously, not to stare into it for too long..."
"You are safe by yourself here in this... state?", Till asked.
"I am indeed. I can't communicate with people too well when I'm... like this... but the rocks and boulders in my shop seem to understand me quite clearly. They move very fast when I want them to..."
"And I sense, " she continued, "your hesitation. But you should know by now that the world is full of people you cannot save."
Till looked at her sadly, but G turned away from him and stared into the great infinite latticework.
He lifted his head from hers, and stood up slowly, regaining his orientation. He still felt a sense of vertigo, but it was fading rapidly.
While G sat motionlessly nearby, he opened the cubby labelled 'C-14', and pulled out a brownish gemstone similar to his, only with an irregular but fascinating pattern of facets etched into its hard surface. He looked only long enough to confirm it was what he needed, and carefully wrapped it up in a handkerchief and put it into his pocket.
He was happy he had everything he needed, but now he felt sad for G. He gave her a gentle kiss on her cheek and walked to the door. When he looked back, she swiveled her chair back towards her workbench.
Quietly he stepped out into the cool evening air, shutting the door tightly behind him, and slowly walked to his car and drove off. He only needed to make contact with the zebra mage now, and hoped that he would uphold his side of the bargain.
Meanwhile G had calmly resumed work, gluing the gem Till had brought to a block of metal and clamping it to an articulated arm, and turned on a diamond grinding wheel.
Her face was devoid of expression, except for tears that briefly clouded her eyes. She squinted hard, forcing the tears out. They dampened the short fur surrounding her eyes, and she resumed her work.